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Hellbender facts & pictures for kids & adults. Conservation, diet, where found, videos & more. The hellbender is a salamander found in fast-flowing rivers in the eastern United States. Reaching up to 29 inches in length, the hellbender is the largest amphibian in North America, and the fourth-largest in the world.
Hellbenders are large aquatic salamanders. They have a wide, flat head with tiny eyes and a broad and vertically compressed, rudderlike tail. The body and legs are covered with prominent folds of skin. Missouri is the only state that contains both recognized subspecies of North American hellbenders. Both have experienced marked declines and are species of conservation concern. The current ...
Physical Description. With their flattened head and body, four short, stout legs, long rudder-like tail and very small beady eyes, they are well adapted to their swift, flowing stream habitats. Hellbenders retain a few juvenile traits as adults, such as an absence of eyelids and open gill slits. Males and females are quite similar, but males ...
An adult weighs 1.5 to 2.5 kg (3.3 to 5.5 lb), making them the fifth heaviest living amphibian in the world after their South China, Chinese and Japanese cousins and the goliath frog, while the largest cane toads may also weigh as much as a hellbender. Hellbenders reach sexual maturity at about five years of age, and may live 30 years in captivity.
Diet of the Hellbender. The diet of this creature depends on its age. Younger individuals do not have the size that adults do, and thus cannot hunt for prey as large as their adult counterparts. While young, these carnivores hunt for insects, insect larvae, tadpoles, and even small fish. Adults primarily hunt for crayfish, but they also eat all ...
Hellbenders are the largest salamanders in North America. The scientific name of hellbenders, Cryptobranchus means “hidden gills.” Hellbenders lose their gills around 1.5 to 2 years of age when the gills are absorbed into the body. As adults, they breath through blood vessels in their skin. Hellbenders have lungs that are not used to breath.
Hellbenders are large aquatic salamanders, weighing between 0.9 and 2.2 pounds. Adults can be anywhere from 11.6 to 27 inches in length. Both males and females are dark brown or black with lighter bellies, and may have dark orange spots. Their skin is loose which creates folds along the body. Hellbenders have flat, broad heads and short noses.
